Hegra is the lesser-known sister city of Petra in Jordan and lay covered under the sands of time. Hegra, like Petra, was built by the Nabateans, who created a huge empire in the desert from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD, when Emperor Trajan conquered them and they became subjects of the Romans.

The "sister city" to the famous Rose City of Petra in Jordan is Hegra (also known as Mada'in Salih) in Saudi Arabia. Both cities were monumental hubs of the Nabataean Kingdom, and they share a nearly identical architectural DNA. While Petra served as the northern capital, Hegra was the Nabataeans' southern outpost and their second-largest city. When you visit Hegra in 2026, you will see the same breathtaking, rock-cut tombs with ornate facades and classical columns carved directly into the sandstone cliffs. For centuries, Hegra remained "locked away" and largely untouched, acting as a time capsule for Nabatean craftsmanship. Both cities are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites and are linked not just by their shared history as master merchants of the incense trade, but by their incredible hydraulic engineering—both civilizations were experts at harvesting water in the harsh desert. If you have marveled at the Treasury in Petra, a visit to the Qasr al-Farid in Hegra is the essential next step to understanding the full scale of this mysterious ancient empire.